Tadej Pogacar praises ‘golden era’ after claiming third Tour de France title – Firstpost

Tadej Pogacar hailed a new “golden era” for cycling after claiming his third Tour de France title on Sunday, adding to his triumphs in 2020 and 2021.

The 25-year-old won the time trial on the final day, with reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard finishing second at 1 minute and 03 seconds. That put him second overall, ahead of Remco Evenepoel, who was third on the day and also third overall.

The victory also gave Pogacar the first Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.

“It was an amazing trip. What a battle with Jonas and Remco. So much happened,” said the champion who was 6 min 17 sec ahead of Vingegaard in the final classification. Evenepoel was 9 min 18 sec behind.

“We live in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco (Evenepoel), Jonas (Vingegaard), Primoz (Roglic) is simply incredible. We have to take advantage of this moment.”

Amazingly, Pogacar won six stages in this edition of the Tour, just as he won the Giro earlier this season.

“It’s incredible to achieve the double,” added Pogacar, who had finished runner-up behind Vingegaard the past two years.

‘Next Level’

“When I won the Giro, some people said it would be a safety net for me if I didn’t win the Tour. Winning the Tour is still the level above that and winning the two is the next level.”

The world’s biggest cycling race, which is broadcast worldwide, had a surprising finale on the French Riviera, because of the Olympic Games in Paris.

Instead of the final day’s race around the Champs-Elysees, the Tour avoided the Olympic venues altogether.

Pogacar, already five stage victories to his name, set off from his hometown of Monaco down the coast to Nice, where he leapt into the arms of his teammates on the famous Promenade des Anglais.

Pogacar took the lead on the fourth day, during a descent, as the race crossed the Alps from Italy into France.

By the time the race returned to the Alps, Pogacar had built up a three-minute lead and Vingegaard was beginning to fade, with the Dane still not fully recovered from a heavy crash in March.

After winning stage 19 on Friday, Pogacar knew he had won and Vingegaard turned his attention to second place.

Vingegaard had a heavy crash earlier this year and was praised for even starting, but ahead of Sunday’s time trial he indicated he wanted to win another stage.

“Under normal circumstances I would have been disappointed. This is such a beautiful race, the yellow jersey is the most beautiful of all. I will come back next year to try to take a third,” said the 27-year-old.

Although he started well, as is often the case in this Tour, he still finished in a respectable second place.

He did beat favourite Evenepoel, who cried at the finish.

There are many prizes to be won in the Tour, but Pogacar’s yellow jersey for the general classification leader is the most important.

‘On another planet’

Evenepoel may not have won the time trial on the final day, but he did win the first time trial in week two.

He also finished third in the general classification and won the white jersey for best young rider.

“Tadej is on another planet, I have to bridge a gap between me, Tadej and Jonas, but this was a good Tour, a good test for me,” said the 24-year-old Belgian.

More stars emerged along the way, including Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay who won three stages, took the green jersey at the sprint points and achieved national hero status in his home country.

Girmay rode a green bike and was dressed in green from head to toe. He was waved off in Monaco by a group of compatriots.

“It’s amazing,” the Eritrean said. “The feelings, the emotions, I want to share them with the people of my country.”

Olympic champion Richard Carapaz won a stage, took the yellow jersey for a day and came close to other victories, riding Saturday in the polka dot jersey for best climbers.

Mark Cavendish also made headlines with his record 35th stage win and was given a special podium place for his career achievements.

When he was greeted by his family in Nice, no tears came from the “Manx Missile”.

“There are about a hundred and seventy cyclists in this race, and most of them finish the Tour without winning anything,” Cavendish said after his podium finish.

When asked if this was his last Tour, he replied: “Yes, 100 percent.”

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